Paper Trail – An invitation to attend and exhibition of works on paper.

A personal invite to our latest showing. An Exhibition of works on paper. ‘Paper Trail’ brings together a range of artists, who cover a broad spectrum of drawings and mixed media.

Exhibition, Saturday 22nd – 28th April

You are warmly welcome to come and meet a number of artists that opening Saturday 1pm until 4pm. Donna Rumble Smith, Jane Thomson and Darren Stevenson to name but a few will all be present in the gallery to talk about their techniques, ideas and inspirations.

This exciting young artist is touted as being the ‘Next Big Thing’ on the British art scene. With his challenge to the heart of British cultural values – members of the Royal family displayed with full sleeve tattoos, iconic buildings such as Buckingham Palace depicted defaced by graffiti, Adams strikes at the heart of our cultural consciousness with his work.

In the same way that Banksy became the art world’s darling, filling the vacuum left by the end of the love affair with the YBAs, Adams is making a name for himself, aided by Wishbone Publishing, with his phenomenal output.

Adams and his Publishing house have kept a tight lid on this new release. A task easier said than done with press, galleries and collectors all chomping at the bit to be given the opportunity to view and reserve work as soon as possible.

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

Own Art Available. No deposit followed by 10 equal monthly instalments.

‘Mission From God’

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

Own Art Available. No deposit followed by 10 equal monthly instalments.

‘Self Preservation Society’

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £495

Own Art Available. No deposit followed by 10 equal monthly instalments.

‘People’s Princess’

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

The gallery has just one final copy available. Do contact us – 01159243555

‘Spoonful of Sugar (Colour)’

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

Own Art Available. No deposit followed by 10 equal monthly instalments.

‘Spoonful of Sugar’ (Black & White)

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

Own Art Available. No deposit followed by 10 equal monthly instalments.

‘Knights of Disorder’

Signed limited edition silkscreen print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £545

‘Broken Heart’

Signed limited edition print on paper. Presented in a large deep card mount and ornate black frame.

Edition – 95

Price – £495

All works are available on line. Please note that the collection sold out within minutes after being released via his Publisher and we only have a limited number of pieces here to exhibit. Do contact us with regards all availability questions.

For centuries skull imagery was the main focus of mainstream artistic endeavor. Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans were famed for treasuring the skull and thus depictions of skinless facial features have been excavated for 1000s of years. By the 16th century skulls were becoming so central to European culture that, with a largely illiterate proletariat, depictions of skulls informed and educated as well as decorated.

So why do we love the skull? Well, certainly we can relate to one, after all we all have one, a shell structure that has evolved over millions of years which protects our most vital organ, exquisitely designed. However, the skull itself is far from a pretty object and why should it be..? Maybe it’s the fascination with its role in the human form as opposed to its aesthetic composition that is what fascinates us the most. At one point in art history all works of the skull were dark and macabre, possibly an insight into the harsh reality of living conditions in the Middle Ages. However, moving forward to the modern day, the skull is certainly an object of desire – the current love of skulls as a motif has never been so prevalent, guided by the some serious players in the world of fashion and art like the late Alexander McQueen and Damien Hirst.

Moving forward to the current time, skull imagery in art and its use as a device to engage the audience in the comfort of the familiar, whilst challenging perceptions, is a common occurrence.

From my point of view, as much as I love skull art, I do like my artists to push boundaries and try and incorporate an element of beauty within the work – and not just attempt to add commercial value to the commodity of their art. A juxtaposition (if you will) of showcasing something perceived as morbid and crossing this concept with elements of beauty. A selected number of my artists below have done just that using humour, flowers and even diamonds to not so subtly embellish an essentially macabre object associated with death and the human condition. I think they have achieved, each in their own way, a device to enable us to contemplate our respective fates in a surprising and strangely pleasurable way.

For more than 100 years, art has been defined by rebellion. From the surrealists’ rejection of the rational to the political paintings of Picasso, rebellion has underpinned much of the driving force of many artistic movements and evidences the need to push boundaries and try something different. Keeping clients and collectors entertained and expressing visually the rage against whatever particular machine that has roused the artist’s ire. This is easier said than done. Even legendary performers such as the late great Prince and Paul Weller have stumbled when trying to create a different and unique style. Trying to rebel against conventional taste. Taking time to cite Paul Weller, this is a man who rose to fame quickly with his notorious punk band The Jam, before slipping into uncertain waters for pretty much a decade. Failed albums and on the verge of bankruptcy he self-financed and produced a monumental album, ‘Wild Wood’ followed shortly by, according to Rolling Stone, what was one of the greatest album ever, Stanley Road. A true tale of the rise and fall and rise again! Excuse me as I digress, but my aim to discuss the musical talent of Weller is really to compare this to the ideals of an artist. One who won fame quickly and justly? Wanted something different but it was rarely accepted and yet he still wanted to offer us something incredibly via commitment to and belief in his talent. This brings me onto to the incredible artist JJ Adams. An artist, who like few others, bounced onto the Art scene with incredible force. Aided by his modest publishing house and a select number of galleries, his works would sell within minutes. This due to secondary market and a control beyond the reach of JJ Adams, it proves what a legacy he was carving. Like many artists, including Weller, JJ Adams late last year wanted to try a different angle, sample new styles and experiment with different techniques. A body of work that he produced which was met with a lack of enthusiasm in the market place. However, his ‘Surgery Collection’ was by no means a flop and I for one feel we will look back on this collection with admiration and in fact art history has taught us that its these ‘under the radar’ collections tend to be worth their weight in gold in years to come. There was a time Picasso’s ceramics were frowned upon and just look how collectable they are today.

In a world where the industry is changing rapidly and consumers are on the hunt for familiarity if you provide something rebellious and differing from the norm it will always be met with some caution. We know this by studying work produced by Damien Hirst, Banksy and even Warhol who created art which his peers described as Bonfire fuel! So to conclude, as JJ entertains his colleagues and collectors, he continues to produce work that sells within minutes. Limited editions and originals sell before they hit the gallery walls; JJ is becoming well renowned within his field, a notable artist on the auction house market and a stable rebellious artist that is adorning many a private collection. He has bounced back with a vengeance, proving to everyone he is an artistic force to be reckoned with. I think now, in years to come, people will be disappointed that they may have missed this furious wave of cultural rebellious artwork produced by this young talent. JJ Adams has a high mountain to climb and although moving quickly, this fickle art market will produce some pitfalls but in my mind he is worth watching and I’m sure by his own admission ‘The Best is yet to come…’

Since humans began to make art, it has always been a creative form that is a hot bed of interpretation and criticism; from Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ to Harvey’s infant portrait of ‘Myra Hindley’. So why the need to create controversy and, in this day and age when internet access has allowed images to be showcased on a grand and un-mediated scale, how controversial can or should we become? Granted Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 take on ‘Clockwork Orange’ clearly demonstrated his intention to shock the audience. Now, fast forward 35 years and the concept of shock horror is a widespread and regular occurrence. Now most artists don’t want to alienate future clients per se, but acknowledge that controversy is a fine mechanism to encourage people to talk about an artist or piece of artwork. The art industry like any other business thrives on PR and marketing. I suppose the fine line is to attempt to provoke a reaction but not one that goes far enough to put a buyer off of actually purchasing the piece. To stimulate debate and to make the audience feel something – anything is in the hands of the artist themselves and in their judgement and execution of their work .

In the democratic marketplace of ideas, controversy over a work of art can arise from different interpretations about the meaning of a work. It can arise from different perceptions of the context in which a work is presented. It can arise from where people find their comfort zone begins and ends.

Below are a number of pieces that.. let’s say err on the side of caution as opposed to provoke outright controversy.

For centuries Christian imagery was the main focus of mainstream artistic endeavour. Some of the most famous religious triptychs of the Middle Ages, such as Rubens ‘Elevation of the Cross’ (c16100 which can be seen in Antwerp Cathedral, or Master of Delft’s ‘Scenes from the Passion of Christ’ (c1510) on display at the National Gallery, London demonstrate the importance and value of religion in Western art at the time. Bible stories and religious events were depicted in often large, figurative paintings, using precious paint colours such as lapis lazuli blue, both of which served to impress the audience with the seeming veracity of their subject matter. But times were of course very different then than now. Religion was arguably so central to European culture that, with a largely illiterate proletariat, depictions of religious scenes informed and educated as well as decorated. As the centuries passed by and as the importance or domination of Christianity on the lives of the masses changed, religious images as art became increasingly subverted in a challenge to the Christian hegemony. The work of Sir Stanley Spencer springs to mind when I think of how this is exemplified in the 20th century. His work ‘The Resurrection, Cookham’ (1927) is set in the grounds of the Holy Trinity Church in his home village in Berkshire and shows Spencer’s friends and family from both Cookham and Hampstead, and others emerging from graves watched by figures of God, Christ and the saints. To the left of the church some of the resurrected are climbing over a stile, others are making their way to the river to board a Thames pleasure boat, others are simply inspecting their headstones. In creating this work which The Times art critic described as “the most important picture painted by any English artist in the present century…” Spencer brought religious art straight back to cultural prominence to a by now largely secular audience.

Moving forward to the current time, religious imagery in art and its use as a device to engage the audience in the comfort of the familiar, whilst challenging perceptions, is a common occurrence. Representations of Christianity in secular art are very common and are popular and acceptable in most modern genres. We do not generally treat a Christian religious image used in art as an object of reverence from a spiritual perspective – we are unlikely to be persuaded to buy such a piece from a religious standpoint.

In the Gallery we have ‘Adoration Bleu’ by Joel Moens de Hase (pictured above) showing a saintly nun gazing upwards, seemingly in some kind of ecstasy, but her picture is made up of hundreds of tiny images of ladies in their underwear.

Dean Kemp’s statue ‘Acceptance’ is of a topless man wearing jeans but with angels’ wings sprouting from his shoulders. Acceptance of religiosity? Acceptance of wings? Interesting questions that do not place religion at the centre of the statue’s meaning but which are implied.

Although the story of Icarus is taken from Greek Mythology is does proclaim many religious connotations notably the consequence of personal over-ambition. Ian depicts his figure with arms out stretched mimicking the crucifix, probably the most principal symbol for Christianity.

Finally, we have seen a great deal of interest in the religion themed pieces by Magnus Gjoen – a print of his piece ‘Mala Fide’ was snapped up by a discerning buyer in the gallery earlier in the year and this depicts Jesus holding two machine guns. The artists draw on a rich tradition of religious representation and yet they all have a twist in the tail